Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Six Minute English: Stress In The Workplace

Hello everybody. Stress is a problem in many people's lives, whether you work or not. But stress in the workplace is particularly serious because of the high cost to economies that are already in poor health. In this week's Six Minute English, we will learn what causes stress at work and what can be done about it. You'll also learn some useful vocabulary connected with the world of work.

To help you to concentrate on your listening, here are a few questions. Read these first and then click on the link, below, to open a new page taking you straight to Six Minute English.

1. This week's question: According to a survey carried out this year, what is considered to be the most stressful job? Is it:

a) A commercial airline pilot
b) A school teacher
c) A surgeon

Listen out for the correct answer at the end of the programme. Does the speaker get it right? And why is this job particularly stressful? What would be the correct answer in Italy? Or, if you are not from Italy, in your country?

Some further questions:

2. Why is stress increasing in the UK?

3. What word does the BBC reporter use as a synonym for economic depression? Hint: the first word is a "D", and it's not "depression", obviously!

4. What proportion of British public-sector companies have reported a rise in stress-related absenteeism?

5. Why is this rise surprising?

6. What are the main reasons?

7. What often happens in companies which are planning to make redundancies?